Trauma and Recovery in Post-Conflict Northern Uganda: an Analysis of Trauma and Its Effects on the Family Shelby Logan SIT Graduate Institute - Study Abroad
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SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad SIT Digital Collections Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection SIT Study Abroad Spring 2016 Trauma and Recovery in Post-Conflict Northern Uganda: An analysis of Trauma and its effects on the Family Shelby Logan SIT Graduate Institute - Study Abroad Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection Part of the African Languages and Societies Commons, Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, and the Mental and Social Health Commons Recommended Citation Logan, Shelby, "Trauma and Recovery in Post-Conflict Northern Uganda: An analysis of Trauma and its effects on the Family" (2016). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 2344. https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/2344 This Unpublished Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the SIT Study Abroad at SIT Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection by an authorized administrator of SIT Digital Collections. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Logan 1 “Trauma and Recovery in Post-Conflict Northern Uganda: An analysis of Trauma and its effects on the Family” Shelby Logan School for International Training Advisor: Dr. Kitara David Lagoro Academic Director: Martha Nalubega Wandera Gulu Spring 2016 Logan 2 I would like this to be dedicated to the late Akena Fred David. Your passion and care for your students is the reason I pursued this topic further and I am regretfully sorry that you did not get to see your ideas come to fruition. Thank you for your contribution to this paper, Kitgum lost a great educator. This research is also dedicated to all of those that have silently suffered because of the atrocities they experienced, your stories were heard and will never be forgotten. Logan 3 Acknowledgements There are so many people to thank for supporting me in this endeavor. First, I must thank my parents for allowing their daughter to fly across the world to a wonderful place like Gulu, Uganda. Thank you for always supporting every dream I have ever had or cause that I have advocated for. This trip would not have been possible without your love and support and for that I am forever grateful. To my fellow SIT students, thank you for being the most wonderful bunch of people I have had the pleasure to be a part of. This experience would not have been so amazing without the friendships that were made and the memories that I will never forget. I am actually sad that we do not get any more time in the van together after this week. I wish you all the best of luck with the rest of your endeavors. To Tim Reese, there are no words to express the amount of gratitude I have for the support that you offered during this entire semester. Thank you for always picking up the phone, for editing documents in the middle of the night, and for making me feel sane even when the world felt like it was collapsing. You are the best kind of person and I am so grateful for you in my life. To the SIT Staff, thank you for answering every stupid question I have ever had, for making sure I did not die in Africa and for showing so much support for your students. These research initiatives could never have come to the fruition that they have without your guidance and passion for your students. Leonard, thank you for always pushing me to move with confidence and never letting me doubt myself or my ability. Martha, thank you for being an ear to listen whenever I needed anything. I am forever grateful for your support during this semester and I will miss you terribly. Simon and Meddie, thank you for doing absolutely everything and anything for us during this research period. I could not have done it without you. Gulu you have changed my life and for that I am forever in your debt. Thank you for accepting me into your lives and teaching me more than I could ever imagine. Logan 4 Abstract Trauma in Northern Uganda stems from the atrocities that occurred during the Lord’s Resistance Army conflict. Because of this, thousands of victims were left traumatized by their experiences with disparities in aid to help them with their trauma. Utilizing the rural and urban areas in Kitgum and Gulu Municipality, this research seeks to understand how trauma presents itself in the Northern Uganda region and how it is defined by the population who treat it. This includes a list of disorders resulting from trauma and their symptoms. In addition, the efforts towards trauma healing and recovery are analyzed, including the different forms of treatment and how they affect the population. In this section, these forms are criticized and analyzed with their given challenges. With these challenges, the research takes an in-depth look at how trauma affects the family unit and what it means for Northern Uganda to develop a “trickling trauma” problem. Lastly, recommendations are given to try to mitigate the challenges that face trauma treatment today in Northern Uganda. This qualitative research was conducted over the course of a month. During this time, interviews and focus groups were utilized in an attempt to better understand the topic of trauma in northern Uganda. These interviews were conducted amongst a population of NGO workers, local government, medical staff, and victims of trauma themselves. These respondents were specifically targeted for their relevance to trauma and its treatment. By snowball sampling, key informants were identified and then those key informants recommended other respondents that would aid in the researching of this topic. Each interview was recorded by taking notes and/or recorded by voice recorder with the consent of each respondent. It was found that depression, anxiety, paranoia, and post-traumatic stress disorder were the most prevalent of the disorders that stem from trauma. Through these disorders many different demographics of people are affected and come are interconnected in the family unit. This means that a father’s PTSD may result in gender-based violence which then traumatizes both the mother and the child, thus creating a new generation of trauma that was not directly affected by the war. Efforts towards treating these disorders range from psychosocial support, counseling, and medication prescriptions, each of these come with their own criticisms and recommendations are given in order to aid in mitigating the challenges they face. Logan 5 Table of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………3 Abstract……………………………………………………………………………..4 Maps………………………………………………………………………………..6 Acronyms/Definitions……………………………………………………………...7 Chapter One: Introduction…………………………………………………………8 1.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………8 1.2 Background……………………………………………………………9 1.3 Problem Statement……………………………………………………11 1.4 Objectives of the Study……………………………………………….11 1.5 Scope of the Study……………………………………………………12 1.6 Significance of the Study……………………………………………..12 Chapter Two: Literature Review…………………………………………………13 Chapter Three: Research Methodology…………………………………………..18 3.1 Introduction to Research Methodology………………………………18 3.2 Research Design……………………………………………………...18 3.3 Area of Study………………………………………………………....19 3.4 Study Population……………………………………………………..19 3.5 Sampling Procedure………………………………………………….19 3.6 Sample Size…………………………………………………………..20 3.7 Data Collection Methods…………………………………………….20 3.8 Data Analysis………………………………………………………...21 3.9 Limitations of the Study……………………………………………..21 3.10 Ethical Considerations……………….............................................. 22 Chapter Four: Findings and Analysis…………………………………………... 24 Chapter Five: Conclusion………………………………………………………..51 Reference List……………………………………………………………………53 Appendices………………………………………………………………………55 i. LRA Conflict Timeline……………………………………………….55 ii. Preliminary Question Guide………………………………………….58 iii. Uganda National Council for Science and Technology Permit……..59 Logan 6 Regions of Study Maps Logan 7 List of Acronyms CBO – Community Based Organization CVT – Center for Victims of Trauma DHO – District Health Officer GBV – Gender-Based Violence ICRC – International Committee of the Red Cross IDP – Internally Displaced Persons KICWA – Kitgum Concerned Women’s Association LAG – Live Again LRA – Lord’s Resistance Army MHFP – Mental Health Focal Person NGO – Non-Governmental Organization NRA – National Resistance Army PTSD – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder RLP – Refugee Law Project TPO – Transcultural Psychosocial Organization UNICEF – The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund UNHCR – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UPDF – Uganda People’s Defense Force WHO – World Health Organization Definitions Trauma – In this work, trauma is defined as a subset of mental health. It is a category of mental health when a victim experiences an atrocity like experience that causes them discomfort and disorder after the event occurred (e.g. death or torture) Mental Health – In this work, mental health is defined as the general well-being of one’s mental state. Logan 8 Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Introduction The conflict in Northern Uganda left whole regions devastated by visceral traumatic experiences and citizens left to handle those feelings on their own. There were Non-Government Organizations (NGO) that came in but the extent of their reach was not large enough. They chose one demographic to tackle which took care of the formerly abducted but left out the rest of the population in the North. The research, to be conducted over the next